Chapter Three
After Justin spoke, a weighted silence stretched on between them for the count of 5 breaths. "How is that book the reason you are here?" Maggie looked sideways at it as though half expecting it to jump up and fly off.
Justin thought for a moment before he spoke. "Before I answer that, can you tell me what you saw before you heard me talking to the bird?" Maggie's confused look compelled him to clarify. "What I mean is, when you first came over and sat down, what was I doing?" Understanding dawned on her face as she bit her lower lip, trying to hide her smile.
"When I came over the hill, I saw you lying down in the grass on your stomach with your head to the side. It looked like you had been sunbathing and had fallen asleep. I was just about to turn around and leave you to your nap when I saw you push up on your elbows and begin conversing with the birds. But what does that have to do with the book?"
After a moment to steel his resolve, Justin asked the question that could lead to the answer he didn't want. "Have you ever played a role-playing game before?" Maggie looked down at her hands for the briefest glance. "I am afraid I don't know what a role-playing game is." Justin flushed, feeling embarrassed that she felt embarrassed. "It's okay. Not everyone does." Justin smiled at Maggie reassuringly. "Basically, it is a game where you get to pretend you live in a different world and go on a quest or have an adventure."
Maggie returned Justin's smile with one of her own. "Oh, I understand. But I still don't see what any of this has to do with the book." Justin held up a hand to stall her. "So, in a role-playing game, the people will sometimes state that a specific object is what 'takes' them into the new world. Of course, it is all pretend, and no one is actually going anywhere, but one of the items that can be used is a book."
Justin needed a second to gather his thoughts before he spoke what he was almost certain was true into the world. After counting to 10, Justin turned fully to Maggie and spoke. "I think what you saw wasn't me napping, but I think I had been knocked out from being transported from my world to here by that book. I think someone or something summoned me here for a reason. There is some kind of quest I must accomplish."
Justin held his breath as he waited for Maggie to roll her eyes and laugh at him. For a moment, they just looked at each other in silence. "What does New York City look like?" Justin was taken aback by her question. He had just told her that he thought he had been transported here from another world, and she wanted to know where he grew up.
"Well, it is a busy city full of people. The streets are always crowded, and many businesses stay open all night. There are skyscrapers everywhere, lots of honking horns, and vehicles everywhere. It is hectic and loud all the time."
As he spoke, Maggie's eyes grew wide with shock. When she opened her mouth, no words came out. She tried again. "Either you are from a different world, or you are mad." Justin couldn't help but laugh at her. "I guess it could be both, but why do you say that?"
"Because I have no idea what you just described. I have never heard of a skyscraper or a honking horn. I know what it means to blow a horn, but not honk one. And I definitely don't know what a vee-hic-all is. Her tongue struggled to form the word, and Justin had to bite back a laugh.
"Maybe you just know them by different names." He searched his thoughts for a good way to explain to her what each thing was. "A skyscraper is an extremely tall building, sometimes reaching over 1500 feet into the sky. It is made of steel and glass. A honking horn comes from inside a vehicle. It is what people use to tell other drivers to get out of the way." He paused and then clarified. "Well, that doesn't help if you don't know what a vehicle is. A vehicle is a large machine made of steel that people sit in and drive. They push pedals and steer a wheel, and the vehicle moves around on the streets. The horn is located in the center of the wheel that the person or driver of the machine steers. When they push on the horn, it makes a loud, annoying sound. Besides that, it just makes the person it is directed at angry. But I digress."
Now it was Maggie's turn to almost fall off the rocks. Justin returned the earlier favor and put a steadying hand on her shoulder.
"You really are from a different world. I can say with certainty that there is nothing like those things here. Our tallest structure is the castle, and it is only a few hundred feet high, I would think. But tell me, where does your world get so much steel? How do you have any left for your swords? How do you defend yourself, or do you just run over your enemies in your moving vehicles?"
Justin blanched at how accurate she was about the dangers that vehicles can cause. But he didn't see a point in going down that rabbit hole. "No, normally, we do not purposely hurt people with our vehicles, but accidents do happen a lot, and we have laws in place for all sorts of situations. But, as far as swords, my world mainly uses swords as ornamentations. We don't fight wars with them anymore. We used to, but that was over a hundred years ago at least."
At those words, Maggie looked as though she was once again questioning his sanity. "You don't use swords to fight? What do you use, rocks?"
This time Justin laughed loud and long. For a split second, he forgot his predicament and just enjoyed talking to this unusual girl. "No, we don't use rocks or swords because we have guns." Before he continued, he had to know. "Do you know what a gun is?" This time, she didn't flush in embarrassment, but only shook her head.
Justin was flummoxed. How was he going to explain to her what a gun was? "Let's see, so guns are weapons that, you know, now that I think about it, I think guns are made of steel too. Now I am wondering why we haven't run out of steel." He stopped that train of thought as he caught himself spiraling and got back to the description. "Anyways, they are weapons made out of steel in the shape of a backwards L." He demonstrated with his thumb and finger so she could see what he was describing. "The thumb part is what the person holds onto, and they use their first finger to pull this thing called a trigger." He demonstrated what pulling a trigger looked like. "And then this thing called a bullet comes out of the finger part, and moves at really high speed into the target." He looked at his hand still in the shape of an L and flexed his fingers. There are other steps and mechanics involved, but that is all I can explain. Sorry if that is confusing. Weapons are not my speciality."
Maggie sat with her arms wrapped around her waist. She looked frightened now. Justin hated that he might be the cause of her distress. He hoped he could see her smile again. "What is your specialty? she asked. At those words, it was Justin who broke out into a full grin. " I am so happy you asked me that!"